So much action in the schools rugby in week 4, the weather conditions were not that sounding as the rain storm and the thunder were singing in the hill capital unlike in Colombo where it was tailor made conditions for rugby.
Big built no.8 Omalka Gunarathne was a treat to watch with his marauding attacking runs. Omalka was terrific in loose play and he always broke off from the first tackler and barged through the defense to gain territory for his team. Since the 1st minute his impact was immensely being shown as he was influential in every attacking move. Omalka Scored a terrific individual try in the dying moments to seal off his 2nd man of the match performance in two weeks. Omalka’s upper body strength and speed was outstanding for an 18 year old schoolboy and He is a star to watch in the future.
Suchintha Udumalagala the Josephian vice-captain was stunning from the back of the scrum as his tactical number 8 breaks helped Joes gain territory at crucial times. Suchintha had a heavy defensive work load tackling ferociously. Moreover, he showed positive leadership skills after his captain left the field with an injury and he was well disciplined in loose play gaining turnovers for his team.
Lasindu Ishan the Sri Lanka U18 player who usually plays at No.08 played at loose head, a tactical switch by Science College to counter the heavier Thomian pack. It paid dividends as the Science scrums held up well against the pressure and gave quick ball to their backs to run the show. Lasindu was good at the breakdowns and turning over the ball. A beastly player in the caliber of Isipathana No.08 Omalka Gunarathna scored a try manhandling three Thomian forwards on his way. Instrumental in organizing a solid defense against the threat from the boys of Mt.Lavinia forwards and frustrated them the whole match.
Sanchana Shiek of trinity made the clear difference against Wesley, he showed a great example on support play and to be with the ball at all the time especially on the soggy conditions which was not easy to any player but he showed great maturity in his role. On the other hand Ishan Madusankha of Wesley College scored all 9 points for the double blues with two penalties and the first ever drop goal in this season under his name. He was not the first option kicker but he did his job quite well.
It was good to see Royal College using their wingers in order to score tries, unlike in other matches where as centers did most of the work. Daniel Gulasekeram the Hat-trick hero was been outstanding on week four against D.S.Senanayake. He mastered his skills with pace, power and sidesteps. His form will play a vital role on the first leg of Brady which is set to play this weekend.
Frank Roger the Peterite No.8 played a fine knock despite it’s been an overall poor performance handling and basic mistakes by the Peterites where as they did not play for their expectation. Roger played his part with quick breaks and making the scrum half job much easier with less pressure. His defending too had a great impact with his brutal tackles where Rajans could not be benefitted in securing the ball. H.Adikari the #8 from Dharmaraja College has been the only highlighted player so far and he also showed how strong and strength he’s got especiall against Kingswood and St.Peters. All his effort in vain though, as a team the defending champions having a bad season and perhaps they might end up being the wooden spoon.
Kingswoodian winger T.I. Jaleel who showed some great pace in their first match against St. Peters this time too he was unstoppable for the Eagles. He is not only scoring tries but his support play was fantastic which is very important in a team sport and showing he is not selfish or too greedy to get the score under his name.
